Honeybee Heyman and David Schick portray Doris and George, who are happily married to other individuals, but have enjoyed one annual fling to enjoy each other’s company for 24 years. LAMOINE COMMUNITY ARTS PHOTOS BY KATHY MASSIMINI

LAMOINE — What happens when a young man and young woman, who met the previous night at dinner in an inn — he to oversee the income tax of a client and she to attend a Catholic retreat — find themselves in bed together?

For its spring theatrical reading, Lamoine Community Arts will present an unadorned production of Canadian playwright and screenwriter Bernard Slade’s romantic comedy “Same Time, Next Year” at 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday, May 31-June 1, at the Lamoine-Bayside Grange Hall. Refreshments will be served during intermission.

In “Same Time, Next Year,” George (David Schick) and Doris (Honeybee Hayman) are two people, happily married to their individual spouses, who fall for each other one February evening in California and form a bond together over the next 24 years. They return to the same cottage at the inn at the same time each year and proceed to develop an unusual intimacy in their relationship, which overcomes their initial feelings of guilt and awkwardness.

Once a year, they enjoy one weekend with no ties, no distractions and no attachments other than to each other.

Slade divided “Same Time, Next Year” into five-year intervals in which George and Doris discuss the births of their children, the deaths of family members and the marital problems that they experience in their respective homes as they adapt to the social changes affecting their lives from 1951 to 1975.

Slade portrays how George and Doris invest their lives in each other and grow together in this unconventional and private relationship. Schick and Hayman show the evolution of their characters, who come to know themselves and each other very well as they age.

Humor carries the relationship throughout each year. At one point in the play, George asks Doris: “Then how did this whole thing start?” She replies: “It started when you sent me over that steak in the restaurant.”

George replies: “They don’t serve drinks. They were known for steaks.” Doris: “Then when you toasted me with your fork with a big piece of steak on it, that really made me laugh … What made you do that…?” George: “I was lonely and you looked so vulnerable. You had a run in your stocking and your lipstick was smeared.” Doris: “You thought I looked cheap?” George: “I thought you looked beautiful.” And this is how it all begins.

Come join Carol Mason, who narrates “Same Time, Next Year” between the years, Merle Bragdon, who directs, and Sveta Malinina, who co-directs the play about growing old and changing times. See Doris and George remain true to themselves and each other as they create a loving relationship with hilarious dialogue over 24 years.

The Lamoine-Bayside Grange Hall is located at 184 Douglas Highway in Lamoine. Admission is by donation. For more information, call 667-6564.